Aura Explained
(Please note some of this hasn't been revealed yet, but I don't consider it a spoiler and so shared the information, e.g. the specifics of Joule's aura break)
Terms defined: Aura, Aura-Breakers (including "aura break," "to (aura) break," "aura knight," and "super-hacker"), Aura Side Effects (using Joule as main example; Aether small example)
For characters and their aura breaks, see Character List (yet to be completed/made)
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Aura:
In the universe of The Star Prince's Gender Bender, aura is a magical type of energy. It exists and is only produced within living beings. Aura-breakers possess significantly more aura than the mundane, or average person. Aura is unique to everyone, and its magical properties depend on its owner. Although ethereal in most cases, releasing aura from one's body can create an invisible force of pressure on items (including bullets) and people surrounding the aura-breaker (mundane don't possess enough aura to do this). The stronger the aura-breaker, the more powerful force they can exert. The specifics of this exertion sometimes depends on the aura-breaker's ability. Aura can also be used to fuel aura weapons, which are weapons built from a special type of metal (currently unnamed) that can harness aura. It also works as a secondary energy source and power/strength for the body, hence why Joule/Fenri/Drake can do 900 push-ups within one chapter.
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Aura-Breakers:
Aura-breakers are people who have completely awakened the aura within their bodies and have unlocked their own superpower, so to speak. The word "aura-breakers" comes from people using aura, which is basically magic, to break the natural laws of the physical world. Many abilities of aura-breakers cannot be explained by science. The proper term for an aura-breaker using his/her ability is "to (aura) break," and the proper term for the ability is "aura break" (I, however, sometime use the word "ability" if "aura break" sounds too redundant; e.g. an aura breaker's aura break).
An aura-breaker, depending on their ability, can suffer from side effects, which are also sometimes called imbued talents/abilities. The more powerful the ability, the greater the side effect. See below for more information.
Aura-breakers are sometimes categorized based on his/her occupation. An aura knight (the mundane can also be one) is a soldier under the command of the Star Lines (royal families of aura-breakers, ex: Star Prince Aether's family). A super-hacker is an aura-breaker who uses his/her aura break to give himself/herself on advantage with technology. This can be anything from hacking a device to sensing if someone has hacked/tampered with it (Phantom is the former, Joule is the latter). There are many more occupations (though I have not named them, and they probably won't be named); just know that if "super" is added before an occupation, it means one is using their aura break to bolster their skills (Ex: super-painter, super-writer, super-plumber,...).
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Aura Side Effects (aka imbued talents/abilities)
Some aura breaks come with side effects. Side effects are magical phenomena that occur without an aura-breaker needing to aura break. They show themselves under various conditions, depending on the ability itself. They could be anything from annoying to beneficial, or even detrimental. If a side effect benefits an aura-breaker, a character may call it an "imbued talent." Depending on a person's point of view, a side effect can be both detrimental and beneficial. Side effects also manifest themselves most clearly in aura-breakers whose ability affects one's intelligence, mind, and/or perception; but this does not limit side effects to only these types of aura-breakers.
Side effects always have some kind of correlation to one's aura break.
Detrimental side effects most commonly appear in aura-breakers whose abilities affect perception or the mind (including seeing ghosts). For example, Joule's aura break allows him to sense the intent of an object or person, whether that be past intent or future intent. His side effect manifests itself by having his aura break constantly powered at a weaker—and unreliable—level; I would like to explain it as randomly activating, but that's not completely accurate. And he can't turn it off. This makes him difficult to understand because his own reality does not match that of others, ultimately resulting in his poor social skills.
Beneficial side effects, aka imbued talents, most commonly appear in aura-breakers with support-type abilities and/or weaker abilities. They can also be double-edged swords, bearing detrimental side effects. For example, Joule's side effect heightens—although unreliably—his ability to sense danger and a person's intent. This is beneficial to him because it bolsters his survivability and his perception of lies (though also detrimental because it messes with his mind). Joule also has a knack for knowing how to use simple items. So if he's given a pair of chopsticks without seeing someone use them (or know what they are), he'd be able to properly use them to eat food.
Another example: Aether can summon seven shards of ice (and do some other things, which I'm going to mark as spoiler-ish and not include), and his side effect (not including spoilers) is that his aura is cold and can drop surrounding temperatures. This is detrimental to Aether's teammates because they'll need to wear jackets/coats. This is beneficial to Aether's teammates if they're in a hot desert.
